Student's Quest
by SentientShadow
Summary: Jiyu Seishin, keyblade wielder taught by none other than Sora and Riku, has a unique gift like no other. One night on Destiny Islands a not-so-stranger donned in a Black Coat arrives and shortly after the world is swallowed. Jiyu remains as the only choice to venture through the worlds and give pursuit to the mystery force behind the darkness. Multiple X-Overs, Will Be OC Heavy.
1. Chapter 1 - Swallowed World

A man wearing a hooded black cloak walked along the beach, ignoring the beautiful surroundings as though he had no care for them. The walked up and away from the beach, following the short path to a small cave nestled beneath a grand tree. Leaning down, he entered the tunnel and followed the short, curved passage into a room beneath the tree. The walls were decorated with roots from the tree above and drawings, made by little children.

The hooded man turned to notice a particularly peculiar drawing, it was the image of the face of a smiling young boy and girl. He noted that the rough drawings of arms with stars in the hands had been drawn on later. He turned left of the drawing and saw the old door in the cavern's wall. "Ah, here it is."

"I didn't think you'd come to enjoy the beach." spoke a serious voice from behind the hooded man. The hooded man turned to see that the source of the voice was a silver haired man with blue-green eyes and pale skin. "Who are you?"

"I am… me. For if I were someone else, than they would be me, standing here in my place." the hooded man answered.

"Why do you wear that coat?"

"The Black Coat protects from the darkness between worlds, are you not aware of this?"

"I know." the silver haired man answered, "But that's not what I meant."

"I know, you were trying to identify me as a member of Organisation XIII. I'm not, our leader has a slightly darker ambition. No, my name is Ioaue. He sent me to check on the keyhole in this world. It took a while to find it but it's awakened, it can be sealed or consumed."

"I take it you're not here to seal it." Riku spoke, his keyblade, Way To The Dawn, appearing in his right hand as he took his stance, ready to battle.

"No," a deep purple keyblade with a rounded rectangular hilt formed in his hand, its key feature the three spikes the crossed within a semicircle, "My keyblade yields to a much darker purpose. I intend to feed this world to the Heartless."

"Why this world?"

"Because this world holds the greatest concentration of threat to our plan. We have already drowned Disney Castle in Darkness and we have countermeasures in place for the Princess."

"You mean Kairi?"

"Yes, if I recall, she is with child now. I saw her earlier but dared not act, the other man was with her. Husband if I recall."

"Sora." Riku stated under his breath.

"Indeed. But enough talk, let's test your skill." Ioaue spoke, lunging forward with a one-handed thrust.

Riku parried the blow to the side and the battle began. Riku immediately countered with an upward swipe, but Ioaue simply leaned casually out of the way, as though the blow were in slow motion. Ioaue swiped horizontally, but Riku dodged under only for a strand of shadow to leap from the ground and strike him in his vulnerable state.

Rolling to his feet, he immediately noticed one thing. He'd need more room if this fight were to carry on. "Some get some." Riku taunted as he swung his keyblade, a wave of darkness carrying itself through the air toward Ioaue. Riku departed the secret cave as Ioaue leapt above the wave and gave pursuit.

Riku exited the cave only to see Sora's student sitting on the beach looking up at the moon and the clouds that surrounded it. Jiyu rose to a seated position, "Riku?" he asked puzzled.

"Jiyu, no time to explain, just get on your feet." Riku instructed. No sooner than those words had left his mouth than Ioaue had exited the cave, keyblade in hand.

"Two against one, that's just unfair." Ioaue smirked, "How about this?" he said, stomping his foot against the ground, causing a dozen shadows to rise from the ground around the pair. Raising his arm, stronger heartless appeared, such as wyverns and defenders.

Jiyu's keyblade, Quicksilver Crescent, formed in his hand with a reverse grip so he held it backwards. Jiyu blurred and in an instant, half the shadows were vanquished and he turned to the other small fry. "Take out the bigger ones, I can handle the small fry."

Riku nodded and then leapt over the shields of one of the defenders, dispatching a wyvern in flight as he sailed over. Neither of the two noticed Ioaue slip back into the cave as they fought off the heartless, which continued to spawn.

In moments, the sky darkened and storm formed above them. Riku cursed, aware of the source but unable to stop it while he fought the source, "It's twenty years ago all over again." he spat under his breath as he dispersed a handful of wyverns with an incredible mid-air combo. A great purple orb began to tear apart the ground beneath and bring it up. Riku was astonished at the rate the darkness swallowed the islands.

In moments, Jiyu floated through the blackness. But he didn't feel like he was meaninglessly drifting, he felt as if he were on a current. He couldn't tell if it was hours or minutes that passed, but eventually he found himself on Traverse Town, a world he'd slipped onto before on account of his unique abilities that his friend and fellow keyblade wielder, not to mention son of his mentor, Tsuyo, often teased him about.

Jiyu stood up and shook his head, _"Was Destiny Islands really just swallowed by the darkness?"_ he thought to himself. Looking around, it was as it always was. With the exception of a figure donned in a Black Coat, the hood off revealing the figure as a him. He had short spiky light blonde hair and a slightly angled scar over his right eye.

"Well you're not who I was expecting." the man chuckled.

"Just who were you expecting to conveniently appear at the entry point to Traverse Town?"

"I was told some pregnant chick might be slipping in, you are not a chick, and nor are you pregnant."

"I'd bloody hope not." Jiyu replied, "But judging by what you said, you work with Ioaue."

"That'd be correct, and?"

"Not too heavy on anonymity are you?"

"Don't need to be, but since you mentioned Ioaue, you were on Destiny Islands." the figure spoke, reaching his hand behind him, drawing a katana from his back that had previously gone unnoticed by Jiyu. "My name's Vegas. Nice to meet you, but… I'm probably gonna have to kill you now."

"Well then," Jiyu spoke, his keyblade forming in his hand, "let's see you try."


	2. Chapter 2 - The Journey's First Step

Vegas blurred forward, letting out a casual slash to test his opponent's skill rather than outright kill. Jiyu blocked with his keyblade and then back flipped, the sudden acrobatics catching his opponent off-guard allowing Jiyu to land a kick to his face as part of the flip.

Jiyu landed on the ground about four paces from Vegas who raised his hand to his face, pulling his hand away he saw the blood on his hand confirming the sensation of a split lip. "That was slick move kid." Vegas commented, "Let's see if you can do it again."

"Nah, I got another trick." Jiyu stated, flipping his grip on his keyblade before spinning around and then hurling the keyblade at Vegas. Vegas parried only for the keyblade to vanish, return to Jiyu's hand and then be thrown again. Vegas continued to parry the keyblade until the onslaught ended.

"Also a neat trick, the technique is called Strike Raid if I recall correctly." Vegas stated, "But again, enough talk."

Vegas bounded forward, slipping into a brutal and unforgiving combination of attacks. Jiyu kept up with his speed, able to parry and dodge and attack made. In the corner of their vision they both saw a flare of red, rapidly growing. As they both leapt back, a bolt of fire slammed into where Vegas had been standing. They both looked in the direction of the blast, only Jiyu recognised the man standing there as Leon. Leon's sword was in hand and he was ready to fight, "Jiyu? Who's your new friend?"

"Calls himself Vegas, he's no slouch with a blade either."

"I could fight either of you one on one, but against two I'm forced to depart." Vegas spoke, sheathing his katana, "Good bye." he gave his farewell as darkness rose around him before disappearing along with Vegas.

"Why are you here?" Leon asked, sheathing his own blade and turning to Jiyu.

"Destiny Islands was swallowed." Jiyu responded, "The only other person I can guarantee got out was Kairi, but I don't know where she is."

"Don't worry, Sora didn't the first time either." Leon smirked, "Things have a way of working themselves out. We actually have a guy back on Hollow Bastion who was expecting you, he sent me here to pick you up. I was doubtful at first but clearly he knows something we don't."

"What does he know about my abilities?"

"I'm not sure, but he called himself Devon Waker. Is the name familiar?"

"No, 'fraid not."

"It's no problem, there's a gummi ship waiting for us. You ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm ready." Jiyu stated, his keyblade vanishing with a soft glimmer of light.

The two arrived at the base in Hollow Bastion, Jiyu had another way of travelling between worlds but the view from a Gummi Ship couldn't be beaten. "Hello Jiyu, been a while hasn't it?" Aerith greeted.

"Hey squirt." Yuffie spoke.

"Ah… you're here." spoke the man Leon introduced as Devon. "Time for some education."

"What do you mean?" Leon asked, speaking on Jiyu's behalf.

"You needn't fear, I am an ally." Devon spoke, "But there is only so much I can reveal for now. For now, know that you need to pursue a man known as Baurus Stillborn who seeks to awaken Kingdom Hearts. Normally Sora would be called upon, but access proves to be an issue. Some of the worlds you will need to visit aren't. On top of that, Sora was trapped in Destiny Islands, as was Riku, though he will be able to escape soon."

"Who? Riku or Sora?" Jiyu asked, knowing that it would be Riku due to his mastery over the darkness.

"Riku of course, but you knew that." Devon stated.

"So, which world first?" Jiyu asked.

"So you accept?" Devon asked.

"I don't see too much choice in the issue. If Sora can't do it and Riku's not available, not to mention I'm the only one who can get there."

"Your first world will be the Elemental Nations, as with other worlds, it has traditions and culture different to what you are accustomed to. In the Elemental Nations you will meet a boy called Naruto Uzumaki. Help him and be led to your own goal, though Baurus will not be there in person. Vegas Vaelent, the man you fought with briefly in Traverse Town will be the first man you fight, but you will have friends to aid you. Worry not about the official side of your visit, I have spoken with the woman Tsunade about your visit, she is ready and willing to attach you to Naruto's team for a while." Devon instructed.

"Do you have a means for me to target the world? I need more than a name to get there."

Devon responded by placing his palm on Jiyu's forehead, a surge of knowledge flowed through the mind of Jiyu. "There, precise enough? Now if you'll excuse me," he spoke, clicking his fingers, causing a long coat to form on his person, "I have to go to Deep Jungle and then to make arrangements for your next visit. I'll catch up with you later."

"Wait! Why Deep Jungle?" Jiyu asked.

"That's where Riku will surface. I have a task for him too." Devon replied, "See you."

Devon simply vanished. There was no complex magic or visual effects, it was a simple case of he was standing there one moment, and then he was gone as if he never stood there. "So you're going to take up his task?" Leon asked.

"Like I said, choice seems minimal." Jiyu replied.

"Then I have a gift for you," Cloud spoke, entering the door, "It's the same ability I gifted to Sora when he faced me in Olympus Coliseum."

"Thanks." Jiyu stated. Focusing his mind, golden white lights climbed around Jiyu similar to the way dark portals are created from world to world.

"Neat trick." admitted Cloud who had never seen Jiyu's ability before.

"I'll see you when it's in Devon's plans." Jiyu stated, the glowing portal collapsed with Jiyu inside, transporting him through the shining passages between worlds that only he had ever seen. Few people knew of the passages of light between worlds because only the Princesses of Heart could travel between them, but the darkness between worlds was generally easier to access and they were naturally safe from the darkness. It was Kairi who taught him to open the light between worlds.


	3. Chapter 3 - Welcome To The Hidden Leaf

The boy clad in orange and black ran up the pillar, jumping up and landing on the top, looking over the Hidden Leaf Village he called out to any who could hear him, "Now this takes me back, the village hasn't changed a bit. I'm home everyone, Naruto Uzumaki has returned to the Hidden Leaf Village!" inhaling deeply, he began to mutter to himself, though it was likely his sensei, Jiraiya of the legendary sannin, could hear him from the foot of the pillar. "Man, I'm feelin' so nostalgic now. Mm hm. Ha ha, they added Grandma Tsunade's face up there."

"Is it, is it really him?" Sakura muttered to herself, Konohamaru and friends close behind.

"Looks like." Konohamaru replied.

"Naruto!" she called out to him, "Naruto, is that you? When did you get back to the village Naruto?"

"Just know." he called out in response, jumping down from the pillar. "Long time no see, huh Sakura." he spoke before chuckling a little.

Sakura simply smiled a little before something came to her attention, "Wait a minute, you've gotten taller than me, haven't you?"

Naruto used his hand to crudely measure the comparison before replying, "Yeah, I guess I have."

"I hate to throw aside what seems to be a reunion, but my friend and teachers are missing. So Naruto. I'm stuck with you." Jiyu spoke, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

"Wait, what?" asked Sakura, Naruto and Jiraiya replied at the same time.

"Speak to Tsunade, apparently she helped arranged it."

"Who are you?" asked Sakura, who had never seen this guy before despite having worked closely with the Hokage.

"My name is Jiyu Seishin, but Jiyu is fine. I have tasks of my own and I was told to accompany Naruto for a while, apparently there's something I'm to help him with."

"How 'bout we go see Tsunade now?" Sakura suggested. The group agreed and while Konohamaru and his squad departed, the group of four made their way to the Hokage Tower.

"It's been a long time you two. Your training proved to be fruitful I hope." Tsunade greeted as they entered the room.

"You think we would've come back without producing any results?" Jiraiya asked.

"Mission accomplished Grandma!" Naruto stated, Jiyu in the back already forgotten.

"Glad to hear it, show me whatcha got kid." Tsunade replied, leaning forward in her chair, Shizune standing off to her side.

"What? Right now?" Naruto asked.

"I have someone I'd like you to go up against." Tsunade began, but was interrupted by Naruto.

"Is that him?" he asked, turning to Jiyu.

"No. Jiyu, can you wait while we sort this out?"

"Yeah, sure. Riku made it a point to drill patience into my training. Endless hours of meditation and whatnot. I can wait."

"Thank you. I've kept him off mission the last few days so he'd be ready for just this moment. Your opponent will be," again she was cut off half way, by a knock on the door this time. "Come in," she replied, the door opening and Shikamaru and Temari stepped in, but the two were foreign to Jiyu, in fact, everyone here was.

"Huh?" Naruto responded.

"Hey," Shikamaru spoke.

"Hey, Shikamaru, Temari. Look what the cat dragged in." she said, pointing to Naruto.

"Is that? It is, Naruto, it's you." Shikamaru exclaimed.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" Naruto replied.

But before the conversation carried on, Shikamaru noted the new figure in the corner while Temari stared in disbelief at the grown Naruto. "Who's the new guy?" Shikamaru asked.

"My name is Jiyu Seishin, I'll be accompanying Naruto for an unspecified period of time. I'll know when it's time for me to move on though."

"Okay then."

"So," Naruto spoke up, "Does this mean your my opponent Shikamaru?"

"Opponent? What are you talkin' about? I just came here to drop off some paperwork."

"Then if it's not you," Naruto spoke, turning to Temari, "What's your name again?" he asked.

Temari scowled at him before responding, "You don't remember me?"

"Naruto," Tsunade interjected, "You won't find your opponent in here." she raised her arm, pointing to the window, "He's out there."

Naruto turned to the window Tsunade had pointed at, as did everyone else. Stepping up to and opening the window, "So," spoke the familiar voice of a white haired man, "Naruto, you went and got all grown up." he continued as he looked up from his red book.

"Kakashi-sensei!?" Naruto reacted, a smile on his face as memories came back. "Well you haven't changed a bit sensei," he spoke as he hopped out the window. Jiyu approached the window to see who had incited such a reaction out of the boy called Naruto.

It was a white haired man with his village headband over his left eye and a mask that concealed his face. "Oh, and who is this?" Kakashi asked as he spied Jiyu through the window. "Jiyu Seishin?" he asked, recalling conversations he'd just overheard.

"Yeah, that'd be me."

"You don't feel like a shinobi." he stated.

"A what?" Jiyu asked, before recalling the words English meaning, "No, I'm not a ninja."

Kakashi's eye raised in confusion, "A civilian? We can't be having a civilian tag along with us on missions, that wouldn't be safe."

"I can look after myself." Jiyu stated, never before had he been underestimated to such a degree… and by someone who seemed so experienced. Sakura and Tsunade took this as there opportunity to approach as the conversation continued.

"So I guess, are you my opponent?" Naruto asked Kakashi.

"Well, you're half right." Kakashi replied, walking up to the window and looking in, Tsunade returned to her seat and Jiyu had also shrunk back into the room while Naruto hopped back inside. "My opponent will be Naruto and Sakura, and if he is to be working with us, Jiyu."

"Three at once sensei?" Naruto asked.

"That's right, Kakashi will put you to the test in an effort to evaluate your skills and determine your status as a team." Tsunade spoke up, "Sakura, it's time to show your training with me wasn't a waste of time. It also provides an opportunity for our newcomer to see what he can do."

"So, what did Devon say exactly?"

"Ah yes. He told me about certain… events that would transpire and he's yet to be wrong. I already have plans, but for now, he has told me nothing of what your able to do except that you are a keyblade wielder and apparently a unique one."

"What's a keyblade?" Naruto asked.

"You know about the keyblades?" Jiyu asked.

"All Hokage do, we are to read over it as part of becoming Hokage."

"What's a keyblade?" Naruto repeated.

"You'll see it in our test when I demonstrate." Jiyu replied.

Naruto's interest was not the only one raised, as only Tsunade and Jiyu knew of the topic of the conversation, even Shikamaru was relatively intrigued by it. Kakashi was mostly intrigued as he would soon have to face it.

"But other than that, he has told me nothing."

"So, you know about the stars?" Jiyu replied, calling the multiverse of hundreds of thousands of worlds what he had since before he was taught in the ways of the keyblade.

"Indeed, though we are usually cut off from such interaction, all Hokage are left scrolls to be read about the topic. I'd stumbled across them when looking for information to assist Lee's procedure. That was about two and half years ago, at least. I'm sure all of the other ninja village leaders also have scrolls containing information about them. Amongst the knowledge I found, spotty entries about the Heartless and a single entry discussing Nobodies."

"Don't worry too much, even our reports and data doesn't go into too much detail about them." Jiyu replied.

"But with that aside, we can get started." Tsunade spoke, leaving everyone to speculate.

"In any case, if you three are ready, we can begin right away." Kakashi stated, "To Training Ground 3."


	4. Chapter 4 - The Bell Test

With Tsunade, Jiraiya and Shizune on the sidelines, Kakashi stood across from Naruto with Sakura on his left and Jiyu on his right. Kakashi raised two bells, "Remember these?" he asked Naruto and Sakura, but Jiyu only saw the bells, not the memories behind them. "It will be like last time. I don't care how you do it, just get these bells away from me, and remember,"

"If we're not prepared to kill you," Naruto started.

"We won't get the bells." Sakura finished, "We know."

"I will state the rules again however as Jiyu hasn't taken the test before. You can use any weapons including shuriken, as I said, whatever you've got, it's all permitted."

Jiyu grinned, though the spike in the heaviness of the atmosphere got him at first, he could get behind this training. "You take this all really serious, don't you?"

"As is the life of a shinobi." Kakashi stated. "You've got 'til sunrise tomorrow."

Naruto tightened his headband and Sakura put on her gloves. Jiyu grinned, he wasn't entering the fight without his weapon, so he knew the next few moments would be interesting. In a short flash of light, Jiyu keyblade was in his hand. Everyone but Tsunade was startled by it sudden appearance. Even Kakashi was caught off-guard, _"It had to have been something like a storage seal… but where is it?"_

"_So that's the keyblade."_ Sakura thought.

"_That was so cool!"_ Naruto yelled in his mind, determined to figure out how he did it.

"Okay, shall we get started?" Kakashi asked.

"We're ready." Naruto spoke for the group.

"Alright, this is a whole new ball game this time. You're not the kids you were last time." he spoke, reaching up to his headband, "And with the newcomer, I'm going to need every edge I can get." lifting the headband, his Sharingan eye flared to life. The first thing Kakashi's eye noticed was that Jiyu's chakra level was that of a high-chuunin or low-jounin, but his flow of chakra revealed him to be untrained and uneducated in chakra control, not to mention ninjutsu. Whatever he fought with would be something else entirely. There was nothing to indicate a storage seal for his weapon either. His subtle movements were still hidden quite well, so he could definitely fight, as could whoever taught him. "This time, it's serious."

Jiyu flipped the grip of his keyblade so that he held it backward and the staredown began. Naruto was the first to leap into action, hurling five shuriken at him. Kakashi ducked under them, crouching to the ground, retaliating with his own shuriken while Jiyu followed Sakura's lead and waited. Naruto jumped above the shuriken and Kakashi hurled another set. Jiyu knew he had a way to counter, but it was likely that Naruto couldn't utilise the same magic he could.

Crossing his two fingers in front of his chest, a seal familiar to all but Jiyu, he called out the name of his technique for extra focus, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A duplicate of Naruto appeared next to him in mid-air and hovered for only a few moments before acting, pulling Naruto out of the way of the shurikens' paths. Kakashi bolted forward, already foreseeing Naruto's next action. As the Naruto's hit the ground, the real one transformed into an oversized shuriken and then clone prepared to throw him. Kakashi was on him in an instant, grabbing the hand that held the shuriken with one of his own and the back of Naruto's head with the other.

"That'll be enough of that." Kakashi spoke before musing in his mind about his growth before speaking again. Kakashi glanced back to see another shadow clone behind him, a kunai at his back and Naruto let a satisfied grin spread across his face. Jiyu was amazed, Naruto could duplicate himself! That was an amazing ability. He hadn't even noticed the second clone being formed. "You've matured, haven't you Naruto? However, you still have a ways to go. It's obvious you're as impatient as ever. You attacked before I even had a chance to say 'Start'."

Jiyu had realised why Sakura didn't act, because Kakashi hadn't invited them too yet. "Now let's do this properly." Kakashi spoke again, "Ready… start." the moment he said start, the shadow clone vanished in a puff of smoke.

"_WHAT!?"_ Jiyu screamed in his mind. _"When the hell did he make a shadow clone!?"_

"Oh come on! I can't believe he tricked me again!" Naruto called out.

"Again?" Jiyu asked, saving him from a scolding courtesy of Sakura.

"Yeah, as he said, we've done this before and last time Kakashi pulled something similar only Naruto didn't one up him first." Sakura explained.

As the three of them looked around for Kakashi, Jiyu noticed a look in Sakura's eye. She was onto something that Naruto missed. As she glanced around, she turned around then looked down and came to a conclusion, drawing back her fist she slammed it into the ground, smashing apart the ground to reveal Kakashi between two slabs of rock. Jiyu's jaw dropped, and this was just the first world he visited, this would be a long task.

"Kakashi-sensei, found you, didn't I?" Sakura smirked. Naruto stood up from his shock and gave a weak smile. Kakashi leapt up onto the broken rocks.

Jiyu decided that with those two having demonstrated what they can do, it was his turn. "Naruto, Sakura. Tell me when you start getting exhausted or tired, I feel like showing off what I can do for a while." Jiyu called out, sort of ignoring the instructions that Kakashi gave at the start. "Burn!" he roared, pointing his keyblade at Kakashi. Kakashi's eye's widened as a bolt of fire roared from the tip of Jiyu's keyblade without any chakra flow or handsigns. The first one was followed by two more.

Kakashi dodged to the side only to see the flames turn, homing in on Kakashi. Kakashi noted that they only curved slightly, and then moved further, the blasts zooming past. Jiyu dashed forward, swinging at Kakashi who easily ducked under the telegraphed strike. Jiyu spun with the swing and began an incredibly acrobatic combo, striking with punch, kick and many swipes of the keyblade. Kakashi dodged each blow, realising more and more that Jiyu's style was difficult to predict, even with the Sharingan. Kakashi grinned beneath his mask striking out during and opening and sending Jiyu's keyblade whirling off into the distance.

Kakashi jabbed forward, only for his attack to be countered with a blow to the head. As he tumbled away he looked up at Jiyu, seeing his keyblade in hand. Jiyu grinned. Naruto and Sakura were shocked at how easily he landed a blow on Kakashi, even those on the sidelines were impressed at the sudden recall of his weapon. "Disarming me was a neat trick, but it doesn't work against keyblade wielders. We can instantly recall our keyblade to our hand with just a thought. But I'm curious, what's with the eye?" Jiyu asked.

"It's the Sharingan," Sakura spoke up, "It allows him to read and mimic ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu, all through reading and interpreting chakra flow and small muscle movements."

"That sounds problematic." Jiyu stated, "The reading muscle movements that is, I have no clue what ninjutsu and genjutsu is."

Naruto duplicated himself and charged, continuing Jiyu's head-on assault. Kakashi dodged the blows delivered by Naruto, before being struck from behind with a punch from Sakura, only for a log to take his place, covering the clearing in splinters as Sakura's monstrous strength obliterated it.

"Wait, what?" Jiyu asked.

"A substitution." Sakura explained, "It allows the user to instantly replace themselves with a nearby object, avoiding the attack."

Naruto and Sakura looked around while Jiyu tensed his muscles, wondering how much about his magic he should reveal. "I think I know how to draw him out, but I've got to get close first." Jiyu stated. As he did so, several kunai flew from the bushes. Naruto parried with a kunai while Sakura dodged by flipping over. Jiyu was caught slightly off-guard but was still able to parry the knives with his keyblade. Wasting no time, Jiyu raised his keyblade above his head, "Attract!" he roared as a field of energy opened above his head, tearing Kakashi from the bushes to the epicentre of his magic spell, Magnet.

Jiyu swept up, his keyblade smashing into Kakashi's ribs, dispersing the Shadow Clone he had caught. "Damn."

Kakashi watched from a relatively safe perch in a tree, watching Jiyu like a hawk. His every subtle movement was caught by his Sharingan and he definitely knew that he was no untrained thug, but he wasn't trained by a shinobi or any other kind of standard warrior or army man. His abilities used none of his chakra, it didn't even affect it, he drew upon something else to power his abilities… but what?

Sakura had sighted Kakashi in the tree, his first clue that he'd been found was when the tree began to topple as Sakura smashed it down. Naruto charged forward alongside a Shadow Clone, a spiralling blue sphere in his right hand. "Rasegan!" he roared, jumping up and thrusting the spiralling orb where Kakashi would have been had he kept falling. But Kakashi didn't keep falling, instead kicking off the toppling tree toward Jiyu, a kunai in hand.

Jiyu swept his keyblade downward in a fashion that caught the kunai in a blunt hook that sat beneath the crescent. Kakashi's eye worked furiously in an attempt to decipher his opponent's next move. Jiyu spun his keyblade, flicking the kunai from Kakashi's grip as he stood on his foot, following the spin of his keyblade with an upward smash to the jaw with the hilt guard. Kakashi fell to the ground, unable to move back with the assault, and landed on his back. As Jiyu's keyblade descended, Kakashi used his other leg to kick at the foot that pinned Jiyu to the ground. As Jiyu toppled from the force of the kick, Kakashi was free. As Naruto approached, he announced to the group a sentence most familiar to Naruto and Sakura, "Shinobi Battle Techniques Part One: Taijutsu."

Naruto swung a right hook which Kakashi easily blocked with his elbow and countered with a jab, dispersing the clone to reveal Sakura charging, her fist glowing with chakra. Kakashi leapt up and Sakura's attack missed. Kakashi kicked off a tree and vanished into the foliage once more.

"He's fast." Jiyu admitted, flipping up to his feet again.

"Sakura… Naruto…" the voice of an injured young man spoke from the bushes behind them. A man slightly younger than Naruto and Sakura slowly stepped forward from the bushes, riddled with kunai. "I got away from Orochimaru…"

"What the hell?" Jiyu asked, his keyblade vanishing as he rushed to help the boy. A hand on his shoulder stopped him. Turning to see who it was he saw Naruto, glaring at the boy.

"Release." Sakura said as she formed a quick ram seal. The boy vanished with a flicker, leaving Jiyu confused and Naruto spoke.

"It's not real."

"Who was that? It seemed like he knew you." Jiyu asked.

"That was Sasuke." Sakura replied, "Sasuke Uchiha was once part of our team but he fled the village to train under Orochimaru."

Sakura then turned to a particular tree not too far away, "Naruto, he's over there, behind that tree." she said pointing.

Naruto responded by forming a Rasengan with the aid of a clone. Naruto charged forward and slammed the Rasengan into the tree, shredding the trunk and causing Kakashi to dodge back as Sakura dropped from above. _"If that touches me I'm dead."_ Kakashi thought to himself as he dodged from the path of Sakura and her chakra-charged fist. As he stepped back, Jiyu caught his leg in the crescent of his keyblade, dropping him to the ground and then following suit, elbow first. As Kakashi rolled away, Jiyu extended his arm, saving his elbow from the brutality of the drop.

"Did you say something Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked with a grin.

"Shinobi Battle Techniques Part Two: Genjutsu." Kakashi repeated with a shock and reluctant expression. Naruto again formed his signature seal and multiplied into hundreds of duplicates. _"The sheer number of his clones never ceases to amaze me."_ Kakashi thought as he looked around at the army of clones in the trees around him.

As they began to attack, he began to smash away at them as he made his way to the river. "Shinobi Battle Techniques Part Three: Ninjutsu." Kakashi stated before his hands blurred with ridiculous speed through a series of hand signs, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" he roared, breathing from his mouth an inferno. The trio dodged from the flames as Kakashi leapt onto the water, his hands already blurring through another series of hand signs, "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu." the water around him rippled before rising upward and then crashed down onto the trio in the shape of a dragon.

Jiyu spun his keyblade in front of him while the others leapt to the trees, "Defense!" Jiyu called as he was surrounded by small hexagons that reflected the water, causing it to diverge around him. As the spell wore thin he leapt upward to the nearest tree. The torrent of water clamed and they looked back to the river to see Kakashi had vanished. They returned to the ground, learning that the two jutsu, one after the other had wiped out most of Naruto's clones.

One remaining Naruto was grabbed by the ankle from beneath and pulled into the ground as Kakashi leapt up from his hiding place within the earth. The clone popped, the cloud of smoke lingering for only a few moments as several others charged toward him.

Jiyu spared a glance toward the horizon, seeing the sun beginning to set. "Alright guys, I don't have the endurance to keep this up forever. I'm ending it."

"You still don't have these bells yet." Kakashi stated, having wiped out the clones. Jiyu pointed his keyblade toward Kakashi and wished as he shouted his command. "Halt!"

Kakashi froze dead in his tracks and Jiyu ran forward, sliding past Kakashi and swiping the bells from his waist. Kakashi returned to motion, and became wary, unable to determine the means of Jiyu's vanishing act. "Naruto! Sakura!" Jiyu called out, you two are the original team. Jiyu tossed up one bell to Naruto and the other to Sakura.

Upon hearing the jingling of the bells behind him, his hand slid down to his waist. The bells were gone. "How?" Kakashi momentarily stuttered. "How did you do that? My Sharingan didn't see a thing."

"Because there was no lapse of time for you to perceive. The spell halts your motion in time for a few moments. At my level it will last about eight seconds before wearing off although it doesn't always work. " Jiyu responded.

"Why didn't you us it earlier?" Kakashi asked, sliding his headband over his eye again.

"Because then you would have learned one thing about me while I learnt nothing of you." Jiyu replied, bringing an amount of logic to his argument.

"Understandable." Kakashi credited.

"In any case," Tsunade called as she approached, "This test determines your team status as I stated earlier. Naruto, Sakura, you two and Kakashi will now form Team Kakashi, Jiyu will serve as a temporary member until you departure. I'm sure you will prove to be a most useful asset to them."

"I'd hope so, having a burden on the team is debilitating. Being the burden is just downright soul-crushing." Jiyu stated.

Sakura turned her head away, thinking back to her 'role' on the team when it first began.

"Go rest, you will receive your first mission in two days. Naruto, you'll be happy."

"Why's that?"

"It'll be an S rank." she stated with a slight grin. Panic spread across Shizune's face and she moved toward Tsunade.

"M'Lady, is that such a good idea?" Shizune asked, whispering in her ear.

"Yes. Devon has told me how the next few days will play out and Naruto needs to be in the Sand."

"The Sand Village?" Naruto asked.

"Indeed. You will learn more when you are given the mission." Tsunade stated, attempting to avoid giving away too much. Tsunade turned away and departed, Jiraiya then jumped down and moved toward Kakashi, his presence triggering a memory belonging to Naruto.

"Oh yeah, Kakashi-sensei," he begun, his hand already digging through his ninja pouch, "I was meant to give you this earlier but the new guy distracted me." Naruto pulled from his pouch a small blue book and handed it to Kakashi.

"No way!" he exclaimed gleefully.


	5. Chapter 5 - The Akatsuki's Move

Small bells chimed across the desert as a group of four made their way through the sands. Three of the left footsteps behind them while the fourth left a trail more akin to dragging than walking. "The one who's in place here will be the first it seems," spoke the blond haired man, Deidara. "The one we sent to Orochimaru will have to wait, this one's turned traitor and has been talking about our movements."

"Can't be helped I suppose," the man who left the dragging trail, Sasori, spoke up. "but even I don't know what will happen once the jutsu is cast. Are you sure what you've got in that pouch will be enough?" he asked the blond, "Our enemy possesses the jinchuuriki host."

"Every one of my jutsu is a work of art." he replied.

"Does the topic of art always arise with you two?" spoke the swordsman who walked alongside them, Vegas Vaelent. Only here, he wore the same robes as the other three, black emblazoned with red clouds.

"Hush Vegas, we are here merely to assist. The way they do things is to be left unchanged, we only render assistance." spoke the fourth person, who had previously yet to speak.

"Yes sir." Vegas replied, revealing the man to be his superior.

"I still can't believe they let you tag along. You must have quite a bit of pull my man." Deidara replied, sparing a sideward glance towards Vegas's superior as he unzipped a pouch on his hip, dipping his hand into the clay, allowing the mouth in his hand to open and begin chewing it.

The four men approached the edge of the Sand Village, a graveyard worth of bodies waiting for them. A single man stood in the path. "Good work Yura. You remember me I presume?" Sasori asked.

"How could I forget, Lord Sasori?" Yura replied, bending down to one knee. Yura began to guide the four men through the passage and into the village.

A lump of clay emerged from Deidara's hand. He tightened his fist and began to shift his fingers, shaping the concealed clay. "Is it ready?" he asked as he opened his hand, "Good, it's done." he answered his own question before continuing, "As planned, Baurus and I will take the One-Tail while you two sort out things here." Deidara spoke as he tossed the clay bird forming a hand seal followed by a second. With a puff of smoke it was now large enough for two to ride on.

"Understood." the no-longer mystery man and Vegas's employer.

"I apologise Sasori, I will not be too much help but I'll do what I can." Vegas said, turning to the man he was speaking to.

"Will you have any troubles flying?" Deidara asked, leaping onto his giant clay bird.

"As long as the bird doesn't explode I'll be fine." Baurus replied, following Deidara's lead.

"Then let's go get us a jinchuuriki, my man." Deidara replied.

As the two soared upward, Baurus's right eye twisted, his pupil and iris vanishing to be replaced with the Heartless emblem. Deidara left eye sought out the aerial look-outs. "Only three." he replied, "I think they underestimate us, my man Baurus."

"It would appear so. Allow me to handle them, save your explosives four the real fight." Baurus stated. A bow formed in his hand instantly, "Point them out." he said, drawing back the bowstring and allowing an arrow to form exactly where it was meant to. He released the arrow in the direction Deidara indicated then quickly turned to the next two, taking out the three of them with ease as the arrows plunged through the throats of each target before they even noticed it was there, the arrows vanishing after doing their damage.

"Nice work." Deidara gave credit were due. "My turn." he stated firmly as he dove toward the building below, the two leaping off the bird and allowing it to return to the sky. Looking up, they saw a man clad in mostly red with a large gourd on his back, Gaara.

"That's as far as you go." he said to the two as they stood, both of them smirked. Deidara and Sasori had shared the info they had on this jinchuuriki to assist with the ease of the mission.

Deidara's hand dove into his pouch and a mass of sand rushed toward him, only to be stop by a massive shield with Baurus behind it. Baurus threw the shield at Gaara and the two leapt upward, the circling bird catching the two. Looking below, the sand had come to Gaara's defense, automatically blocking the shield.

"The Heartless will be of no use to us in this fight, it will be up to us." Baurus stated, somewhat annoyed. The heartless emblem in his eye faded and his eye returned to normal.

"You have an interesting doujutsu, my man, I'll have to ask you 'bout it later." Deidara spoke, the bird already flying away from the stream of sand pursuing them. Baurus had no issues keeping his balance and raised his hands, a handgun forming in each.

"Now let's see just how fast this sand is." Baurus grinned, "While you wait for your clay, can you fly us back over him?"

"Sure thing," Deidara stated, the bird evading the sand and then circling back around. Baurus squeezed the triggers as he flew over, gun fire ringing through the skies and slamming into a freshly formed wall of sand.

"His sand serves as defense without conscious thought." Baurus noted aloud as sand pooled as a platform and Gaara leapt onto it, rising to the skies to fight on a slightly more equal level. "But any other use goes through him first."

"That blasted Deidara, he had to make a circus out of it." Sasori groaned, "Yura, you should get back to the village, it could complicate things if they were to find you here. Get on with it Deidara, you know I don't like to be kept waiting." Yura bowed swiftly and then vanished.

"He do this sort of thing a lot?" Vegas asked, speaking again before the response, "It shouldn't be too long, the boss has always been an efficiency minded strategist. If the fight begun, he's already got a course of action and contingency plans for his contingency plans. I don't care how powerful this guy is, he'll be finished in a few moments."

"I would hope so." Sasori replied.

Sand rushed toward the aerial duo, "Watch out Deidara, some of the sand is faster than the rest." Baurus warned, swiftly sizing up Gaara as a mark.

"Yeah, his 'Ultimate Defense'." Deidara chuckled, "Getting past it could prove to be difficult."

"No, it won't." Baurus replied with a smirk. "When the sand approaches, hurl explosives toward Gaara and the approaching sand.

"Don't know what you're planning but alright, my man." Deidara agreed, shaping a handful of homing charges.

"You say art is an explosion?" Baurus asked rhetorically, "I couldn't agree more."

Deidara hurled the handful of explosives as directed, and Baurus leapt after the explosives headed toward the sand. Gaara's sand blocked the projectiles toward him at the last minute, but the sand blocked his view of what Baurus did next.

The projectiles exploded, kicking up a cloud obscuring Baurus from sight as he ran with his hands behind him, black powder magically forming from his hands and being mixed into the sand as he ran along it. Gaara took the time to raise sand from the rest of the village and Baurus leapt about the sand, sprinkling his black powder throughout the sand. Once he felt he'd mixed enough of it in, he jumped of the sand and Deidara caught him on the bird, "What was that?"

"Gunpowder." Baurus replied, if he blocks the wrong attack with the wrong sand, he's done for. Got more homing missiles? If we can get him to cocoon himself to guard an explosion then we win."

"Yeah, I got more." Deidara said, opening his hands to reveal more four-winged birds.

'Then throw 'em and we win." Baurus grinned. Deidara hurled the missiles and exactly as Baurus predicted, when the missiles got too close, the sand wrapped him in a ball. As the missiles exploded, so too did the sand, an attack which Gaara couldn't dodge. The sand was blown apart and Gaara plummeted toward the ground. The bird dove and caught Gaara in its mouth and flew toward the entrance.

"Good job boss." Vegas called out as they approached, the bird dropping the heavily injured Gaara to the ground, picking him up again in its tail.

"Indeed." Sasori agreed, astonished at the efficiency of Baurus, he knew that if Deidara had done it alone it would have taken far too long.

"Let's go, it won't be too long before additional shinobi arrive." Baurus stated.

The four set out with an additional body in the tails of the bird. "We'd actually just finished our end of it." Vegas stated as they departed.

The four continued through the desert when Vegas stopped, "We're being pursued. Looks like someone's a skilled tracker."

Baurus spared a single glance toward Gaara, "His sand armour is flaking, they were able to identify the real tracks from his sand." Baurus informed.

"Looks like it's our turn Sasori." Vegas stated, turning around and drawing his sword.

"It would seem so." Sasori also turned.

It was Kankuro who had followed them this far. Immediately he drew his scrolls and tossed them before him, allowing them to roll out. "Are you two ready? For a puppet show?" he asked sarcastically with rage in his tone, forming a quick hand seal he spoke the names of his puppets as he called them. "Crow! Black Ant! Salamander!" he instantly formed chakra strings to each puppet and spoke once more, "Hand over Gaara now!"

"We'll go on ahead, enjoy the show." Deidara called out as he and Baurus departed.

"Think again!" Kankuro shouted, Crow rushing towards him. A tail made of wooden segments caught Crow in mid-air.

"I don't like to wait, or keep others waiting. So I'll make this short… and sweet." Sasori spoke sadistically.

"You moved as fast as Crow, I'm impressed." Kankuro admitted.

"The spider needs to be as fast as the fly." Sasori retorted.

"I remember now, this jinchuuriki is supposed to have a couple of siblings and one of them's some kind of puppet master. Your name's Kanturo, right? Or Kanpachi or something."

"It's Kankuro!" he shouted as he disassembled Crow and quickly reattached the pieces, taking another dive at Deidara, only for Sasori to shoot down the attack again.

"Forget about him, we're your opponents." Sasori ordered.

"Come on Deidara, I'm sure our associates can handle this boy without an issue." Baurus suggested.

"Fine, have fun." Deidara called out as they two departed.

"Where are you going?!" Kankuro shouted. Kankuro leapt back as Sasori's wooden tail slammed into the ground where he'd previously been standing.

"Didn't you hear me? We're your opponents." Sasori repeated.

"Okay, if that's what you want," Kankuro spoke after a few moments of thought, "Let the puppet show begin!" he roared, beginning to have his puppets circle the duo. A few additional motions and the puppets blurred into a single circle.

"I like puppet shows," Vegas spoke up, "They remind of when I was a kid. My dad would take me to see sock puppet shows and occasionally they'd have that one marionette puppet that always creeped me out," Vegas chuckled, "This one time, they brought the puppet out, and I'd already been having a bad day, so they brought it out and I went to leave but my dad stopped me," Vegas chuckled a bit before finishing the story, "So I grabbed a pair of scissors on the table next to me and I stabbed him in the knee." Vegas laughed again, this time like you would after hearing the punch line to a fantastically hilarious joke. After a few moments he suddenly stopped, "No wait, that's not funny. A meant to tell the one where they called for a volunteer and I punched the puppet. What I told was why I left home, oh well."

Crow spat out two kunai, one at each. Sasori parried his with his tail while Vegas caught his just an inch from his face with his left hand. "Pretty good, so far." Kankuro said, raising his hand causing Black Ant to burst from the sand beneath Sasori, who leapt into the air. "You didn't notice Black Ant was missing, did you?"

Black Ant leaned back and the chest cavity unlatched and opened, it's walls extending upward to ensnare Sasori and pulled him in. "Now, Secret Black Move: Iron Maiden!"

Kankuro opened the puppet only for the Sasori inside to be revealed as a sand clone and the real one to rise from the sand off to one side.

The battle continued between Sasori and Kankuro, with Kankuro launching a multitude of hidden weapon attacks only for Sasori to parry or dodge without any visible effort. "What's wrong?" Sasori asked, "Run out of tricks?"

"I'm just getting started." Kankuro yelled. Vegas moved next to Sasori, hoping to get his turn soon, but Sasori didn't care about Vegas's life so did nothing to warn him of Kankuro's next attack.

Crow and Black Ant circled the pair until Crow's arms flicked back, allowing it to fire poison smoke bombs from its elbows. "Poison Mist Inferno: Consecutive Needle Combo!" Kankuro roared as the poison smoke spread and both puppets fired a barrage of needles into the smoke. Kankuro smirked, believing he'd finished it.

"You know, this smells kind of nice." Vegas called out from the smog, shortly before it was blown dissipated.

Kankuro was shocked to see that neither of them had been affected by the smoke, or touched by any of the senbon. "Are you finished?" Sasori called out.

"No way, not even the poison mist had any effect on them. How?"

"Have I mentioned how much I dislike making people wait? It's against my policy. You've had your turn, now it ours." 

Sasori's tail rushed forward, with Vegas not too far behind it. A swift flick and Salamander's shield was put between Kankuro and the tail. The tail ricocheted uselessly of the shield and Kankuro smirked again. "Have a lot of fun trying to get through that. Salamander's shield can withstand the impact of thousands of tons of rocks. As long as I stay behind it you can't touch me."

"That puppet of your's does indeed have extraordinary-" Sasori began to speak but was interrupted.

"Hey, Sasori." Vegas interrupted, "I understand that you're in the zone right now, but I'd like to show off a bit too, let me deal with his shield." he stated approaching Salamander, he raised his sword in two hands and in a blur of motion, Salamander's shield was cut in half. "Sure the joints are vulnerable points but it's not nearly as showy."

As Kankuro's face widened in surprise, Sasori's tail rushed pass Vegas and struck Kankuro's torso. Even Sasori was surprised by the sheer force Vegas could muster.

Kankuro threw every hidden weapon he had at the two but every attack was blocked, parried or dodged with ease. "You have talent, you might even win against a different opponent. Those puppets of yours with all their hidden poison mechanisms," he spoke as he tail smashed Crow's head aside before diving into the sand to strike Black Ant and bring it out of its hiding spot, "They're not hidden from me!"

Sasori struck down Crow as the same time Black Ant was reduced to firewood by Vegas. "Crow! Black Ant! Salamander!" Kankuro called out in panic.

Sasori chuckled deeply, "You must be wondering how I can anticipate every attack your puppets make. Crow… Black Ant… Salamander… the answer is quite simple really… I'm the one created them." he stated. Kankuro's eyes widened in shock, then his gaze turned to Vegas, who sheathed his sword, ready for Sasori to end the fight any minute now.

"What about you?!" Kankuro shouted out.

"Me?" Vegas asked, "The poisons were easy, I've been building up a resistance to toxins for so long now that I'm just immune to it. The needles don't travel as fast as bullets and they're larger to so they were a cinch. As for your precious shield, well, I've got to keep some things secret." he replied in full.

"I know I promised to finish this quickly and not keep you waiting," Sasori spoke, speaking as much to Kankuro as he was to his associates, both those present and those who weren't, "But facing one of my own disciples using my old toys, I can't resist savouring the moment."

"So then, you have to be, the legendary master craftsman of the puppet core, the great Sasori of The Red Sand."

"I'm honoured that my name is so well-known even to a child such as you."

"Yatta yatta yatta, blah blah blah. I understand this must be rather nostalgic for the two of you, but-" Vegas was interrupted by a grunt from Kankuro as he collapsed.

"The poison is circulating, eh? It's over!" Sasori stated as his tail rushed to finish Kankuro. Using the last of his strength, Kankuro used Black Ant's head to smash the tail aside and then an arm from Crow to strike his head. Leaning back the blade only cut off a piece of fabric which the arm's hand caught immediately as it plunged into the sand shortly after. "Since you want to live so badly, I won't finish you. I'll let the poison take its course. You'll wish I hadn't, your suffering will be unimaginable. But it will be over in less than three days."

"Gaara," Kankuro groaned as he slipped into unconsciousness, watching Sasori walk away…


	6. Chapter 6 - To The Sand!

"Excellent." Kakashi exclaimed, Jiyu standing on the river's surface. "You seem to have learned it a lot faster than I'd have anticipated.

"Are you sure I'm doing it right?" Jiyu asked, "I'm still not sure what it is I'm doing, it's kind of just happening."

"It's understandable. Chakra is a new concept to you, not to mention its control." Kakashi reasoned, "In any case, we should be getting our mission soon."

His students nor Jiyu had noticed the messenger hawk flying overhead. Team Kakashi assembled together with Jiyu in the Hokage's office, waiting. "Just a moment, we have a messenger from the Cipher Core on it way soon, it will contain mission details."

Moments after she spoke, a woman burst through the door, moving immediately to Tsunade desk and handing her a slip of paper, "I deciphered the message as quickly as possible."

Tsunade glanced over the message, already aware of the type of information it would hold. "I'm deploying Team Kakashi to the Sand Village to aid them. You are to follow their orders and assist as much as possible." Tsunade spoke.

"What's happened?" Naruto asked.

"The Kazekage has been kidnapped." Tsunade explained. "You four will be deployed to aid in his rescue. Backup will be sent once they're available. Go!"

The team immediately departed, headed for Sand as quickly as possible.

The four bounded through the trees, the rush of speed both unfamiliar and exhilarating. "You travel like this all the time?" Jiyu asked as he bounded from another branch, catapulting himself several metres.

"All the time," Sakura spoke, Jiyu was as skilled as any ninja but he was still raised as a civilian from… "Uh, Jiyu, was it? Where exactly are you from?" she asked, spiking the interest of the other members of the team who also had no clue where the mystery member was from.

"Well," Jiyu began, considering how he should respond, "I'm not sure how much I can tell you, but I feel confident I can say you've never been there. I'm from outside the Elemental Nations, far outside the Elemental Nations."

"How far?" Naruto asked.

"Far enough." Jiyu answered, glancing at a walking figure on the dirt road. "Hey, isn't that the girl from the Hokage's office? She was with that, uh… Shikamaru fella, wasn't she?"

"Temari." Sakura called out, the team leaping down to her side.

The team informed Temari of Gaara's kidnapping and together they made their way toward the Sand Village, the travel was uneventful until the sandstorm struck, trapping them in a cave.

"We should be going to save Gaara, not sitting in a cave." Naruto argued.

"Naruto, don't you think this is hard for Temari as well, he's her brother." Sakura retorted.

"One of the rules of desert survival is if you hit a sandstorm, you wait. You lose all sense of direction in a sandstorm like this." Temari spoke, doing her best to keep calm, "Don't worry, the sandstorms during this season don't last too long."

Jiyu stood by the mouth of the cave, looking out to the desert. "Ioaue…" Jiyu accidentally muttered aloud as he waded in his thoughts.

"Who?" Kakashi asked.

"Ioaue. He's someone who trapped my friend and mentors, that's why I'm here. I was told that I could find answers here but… I'm not sure why I was told that aiding you would help me." Jiyu answered, "I don't mean any offense, I'm willing to help in any way I can, but I do have ulterior motives. Temari wants to save him because they're siblings, Naruto befriended him through battle and I'm sure everyone else who is pitching in has a reason. The Hokage sent assistance to honour the alliance between the two villages, the Sand wants him found because they want their leader and Kakashi's following orders. But me? I don't even know him."

The team sighed, "Then I guess the best way for you to save your friend would be to have you aid us if that's what you were told needed to be done." Kakashi stated, "Surely your guide wouldn't deceive you."

The sandstorm died down as the conversation came to a close and they were off like rockets, making their way for the village.

It was no more than an hour after when they arrived at the Sand Village and greeted by the guards then led to the infirmary where Kankuro had been poisoned. The first inside was Naruto by Jiyu's side, then Kakashi entered. "Die! White Fang of the Leaf!" were the words roared by the elderly lady as he entered the door. Naruto duplicated and caught the blows, Jiyu's keyblade appearing in his hand with a flash of light before swinging upward.

The elderly lady backflipped, slamming Jiyu upward while escaping the grip of the clones. It was the other village elder who calmed the lady, who broke the tension with a partly mad cackle. The conversation was about to begin when Kankuro groaned loudly in pain. Sakura stepped forward, "What's wrong?" she asked.

"He's been poisoned," one of the medical unit responded, "We've been unable to identify the toxin, let alone create and antidote."

"Maybe I can help." Sakura stated.

"Just say what you need." the medical ninja spoke.

As Sakura began to list equipment and specifications, the rest of the team was led out by one of the other doctors, "We apologise, but it will be easier without any excess personnel." he stated before re-entering the room, closing the double-door behind him.

As the Sakura operated inside the room, the rest of the team sat outside. It was silent throughout Kankuro's screams of pain until Naruto broke the silence. "So, Kakashi-sensei, who is this White Fang of the Leaf that the old lady mistook you for?"

Kakashi let out an awkward laugh as he closed his blue book before rubbing at the back of his head, "Well… he was… my father." Kakashi replied.

"There is a family resemblance." spoke the old man, who had been introduced as Ebizo while the elderly woman was Chiyo.

"Yeah, enough of one that it triggered an aggressive reaction." Jiyu reminded, "So, how are we tracking down the, Akatsuki, was it?"

"How about we see if Kankuro can render any aid first?" Kakashi suggested, causing the group to slump back in silence.

"You're just on time." a voice echoed through the cave structure, it source a multi-coloured holograph of a man with ringed purple eyes. He turned around and performed a swift series of hand signs, slamming his palm to the ground and causing a massive, multi-eyed statue head and two arms to rise from the ground. The holograph vanished from the ground and appeared on one of the thumbs. In moments, several multi-coloured holographs appeared, each resembling a different mystery man.

"You're organisation is a little more than double our members." Baurus stated, looking at the figures.

"So you're the outsiders working with Deidara and Sasori." a man with shark-like teeth and a large, bandaged sword slung across his back.

"Kisame, be quiet." a man with red eyes spoke, each eye decorated with three tomoe, or comma marks, around the pupil.

"Indeed, we need to begin the ritual with haste." the purple eyed man spoke.

"What shall we do?" Baurus asked, "We haven't the skill to assist in your jutsu."

"You can wait, should we be attacked while the ritual is being performed, we will be unable to fight back." the purple eyed man replied.

"Understood." Baurus replied.

The ritual began as each ninja, holographic or otherwise formed a seal, before the purple eyed man spoke once more, "Nine Phantom Dragons Sealing Jutsu!"

Kankuro's treatment came to a close as Sakura gave him the antidote. Kankuro coughed heavily as the cup was removed from his lips. "How long will it take him to recover?" Jiyu asked.

"The antidote will flush out the rest of the toxin, but he shouldn't be moving around for a few days." Sakura answered.

"I may be able to shorten that time. The remaining toxin, is it still harmful?" Jiyu asked.

"In about a day, it won't even be present. It's the damage that the poison did that he needs to recover from." Sakura explained.

"Then I can shorten it." Jiyu stated, his keyblade forming in his hand as he raised it to point at Kankuro. "Heal!" Jiyu shouted. A green bell formed above Kankuro and rang, a green mist descending upon Kankuro, rejuvenating him and healing his injuries. Kankuro felt his chest, a great weight on his breathing suddenly lifted. "You can run whatever diagnosis you want to, but he should be battle ready."

"No quite…" Kankuro sighed, looking down and off to the side as he recalled the battle.

"Why not? Did it not restore your chakra reserves? I wasn't sure if it would-" Jiyu started to reply but was interrupted by Kankuro.

"No, it's not that. But my puppets were destroyed in the battle." Kankuro replied.

"Puppets?"

"I'm a puppet master." Kankuro replied, "I battle through the utilisation of puppets, each with its own array of hidden weapons and poisons. But when I fought with Sasori and-"

"Did you say Sasori?" Chiyo asked.

"Yes, Lady Chiyo. He stated it himself." Kankuro replied, "But there was another with him, I never learnt his name but he battled with a single katana and incredible skill. He sliced Salamander's shield in half with ease."

"So my little Sasori has finally come back." Lady Chiyo sighed.

"Is there any way you can take me to the site of the battle, I'm good at picking up a trail." Kakashi spoke.

"No need." Kankuro spoke, "I made sure we'd be able to follow them. You retrieved my puppets, right?"

One of the other ninja in the room nodded and in a few moments, Kankuro's puppets were brought into the room. Kankuro swiftly scanned for the arm and tightened fist of Crow, swiftly attaching a few chakra strings and opening the fist. "I sliced that from Sasori's face mask."

"Even in defeat you prove yourself a real shinobi." Kakashi stated.

"I reckon that in the day it will take Kakashi to track the scent, you can put your puppets back together and join us in the battle."

"No." Baki stated, "If Kankuro is battle-ready, the council has already arranged for him and Temari to guard the border at a location where we have been infiltrated multiple times before."

"But," Kankuro and Temari began to argue, but Baki raised a hand, "Orders from above, I am unable to change anything."

"Then we'll have to do it." Jiyu stated.

"Bah," Chiyo responded, "Such reliance on another village."

Jiyu stepped forward, staring down the old lady, "I'm. Not. From. The. Leaf." he stated firmly.

"You cannot speak to an elder with such disrespect." a ninja spoke from the background.

"She's not my superior." Jiyu stated.

Chiyo simply let out another half-mad cackle, bringing herself back around she explained, "Calm down. It has been a long time since someone has had the gall to speak to me so forwardly. I can respect his determination. But if you are not from the Leaf, why are you here?"

Jiyu was instantly reminded of what Kankuro said earlier, "Wait, did you say one of them wielded a single katana?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Did he sheath it on the right side of his back?"

"Indeed, but again, why?"

"He calls himself Vegas. I fought with him briefly not too long ago. Devon told me that I'd find a lead here, maybe it's him."

"There were four of them. Sasori, Vegas, and then the two who fought Gaara. Once used explosive clay and the other used a variety of weapons, likely held in storage seals."

"I thought Akatsuki travelled in pairs? Not groups of four." Kakashi stated.

"They all wore the black cloak emblazoned with red clouds." Kankuro stated.

"Vegas isn't part of the Akatsuki." Jiyu stated, "I'm certain of it. How fast could this man change weapons?"

"It was hard to tell, we could only watch as Gaara was defeated." Baki stated, "But he appeared to swap very quickly, almost instantly."

"Then I'm willing to wager his not using ninjutsu, or even genjutsu. I'm willing to bet that he uses magic."

"Magic?" Baki asked, "Surely such a thing doesn't truly exist."

"I can guarantee it." Jiyu stated it, "In fact, you've already witnessed it."

"What? When?"

"When I cured Kankuro." Jiyu stated, pointing to the puppeteer, "That wasn't medical ninjutsu and Sakura and the other medical ninja can back me up on that."

"How?"

"This world that you know, the Elemental Nations. They're not alone. There are hundreds of thousands of worlds out there, each with their own laws and principles, their own cultures and customs. When you look up at the night sky, you see them. Each and every star in the sky is another world. Vegas and the one who used magic to change his weapon at will, they're not from here either. If you take them out, that gives you your Akatsuki pair."

Naruto dwelled upon the notion, "I don't think I'll ever look at the sky the same again."

"Me neither." Sakura replied.

"So, a wielder of a keyblade has come to visit our little world." Chiyo stated, "Never thought I'd see the day."

"You knew?" Baki asked.

"Of course. All of the great Kage and the advisors of each village are informed, but it is still a top class secret, even the councils beneath each Kage know nothing of it." Chiyo replied.

"So why are you here? On our little world." Chiyo asked.

"I came to this world because a man named Devon instructed me to do so. I wasn't told what I had to do beyond help Naruto."

"Me?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. Devon told me I was to help you in your goals. As a result, here I am and I'll likely get to battle Vegas again and aid in your battle against the Akatsuki. But what I have learnt from Kankuro's retell, is that Ioaue, the man who swallowed my world in darkness, isn't on this world. So why did Devon send me here?" Jiyu contemplated.


End file.
